Prague, July 13 (CTK) – The time may come when the Czech Republic will have to call up its military to protect its borders against migrants, President Milos Zeman told journalists when unveiling a bust of former French President Francois Mitterrand yesterday.
Given the current situation in Ukraine, an influx of Ukrainian refugees could not be ruled out, Zeman said.
He said they were culturally close people who were ready to work.
“I think the time will come when we will have to call up the military to guard our state border. After all, this is the task of every military,” Zeman said.
Pointing to the recent clash between the police and nationalists in Mukachevo in westernmost Ukraine, Zeman said this would cause “an approaching wave of refugees from Ukraine.”
“These are people who are culturally close to us, who are ready to work, not only to live on welfare,” he added.
“I would agree with such an immigration wave, though with a limited extent,” Zeman said.
He said he would never agree with an immigration wave of Islamists coming to the Czech Republic that “may include the fighters of a holy war or Jihad.”
Last week, the government decided that the Czech Republic would accept 1,500 refugees by 2017, 400 of whom this year alone.
